Tag: INSPY

Though I admit, “romance” books are not the genre I usually list as a favorite, I do have a few favorite authors and several books on my to-read list. I mostly enjoy some historical romance, romantic suspense, and even fantasy romance. And what better time to look these over than on this day of love? So, quiet your inner cynic, grab some chocolate and look over this list and see if you can’t find something you might enjoy to take you through the rest of this winter month.

Tamera Alexander: She has several different series, all historical. I recently read the first two in her Timber Ridge Reflections series: From a Distance and Beyond this Moment. Both take place shortly after the Civil War in Colorado. Interesting history (concerning both photography and the time of Colorado shortly before it became a state), and suspense in these books.

Lori Benton: I have read her first book: Burning Sky set in colonial times. Looking forward to reading soon: The Wood’s Edge, (also set in colonial times) Christy Award winner for Book of the Year and Historical and First Novel.

Laura Frantz: Frantz has several different series and these also take place during the colonial period of the U.S. Two I have read and highly recommend: Love’s Reckoning and The Colonel’s Lady.

Jody Hedlund: Also has several different series, but two of her books I have on my to read-list: Luther & Katharine (winner of ECPA Christian Book Award & Christy Award for Historical Romance) and Newton & Polly (recently long listed for INSPY). As you might be able to guess, these are based on the real-life relationships of Martin Luther and his wife; and Amazing Grace writer, John Newton and his wife.

For more contemporary romance, Katie Ganshert is becoming a favorite as well as Beth Wiseman and Pepper Basham. What about you? Reading any romance today?

The INSPY Shortlist for 2016 has been announced, and though some of these books are already on my TBR list, I can see I will need to add several more.

The INSPY awards were created by bloggers for the best literature “that grapples with expressions of the Christian faith”. The categories include: historical romance, debut fiction, speculative fiction, and literature for young adults.

I already have two books in the historical romance category that I am looking forward to reading. One by Jody Hedlund is Luther and Katharina, a story of a monk and a nun who fall in love in the 16th century. You’ve probably heard of the monk, Martin Luther. I’ve read a couple of Jody Hedlund’s books in her Beacons of Hope series and know that she is a skilled and entertaining writer.

The other I’m looking forward to reading is Lori Benton’s The Wood’s Edge. I read her book, Burning Sky, last year and can highly recommend it. Several people in a group I belong to in Goodreads have already read The Wood’s Edge and can only rave about it.

One more author I’ll recommend writes speculative fiction, (what I would call fantasy) Patrick Carr. I read A Cast of Stones and am ready to read the second in that series. His book that has been nominated for an INSPY is Shock of Night, the start of a new series.